TACOMA, Wash. (AP) – Four service members were riding in a US Army MH-60 Black Hawk helicopter that crashed near Washington’s joint base, the Army announced Thursday. The Army did not release their terms.
The helicopter was taking part in a routine training mission when it crashed around 9pm on Wednesday, Army officials said in a statement. The soldiers were part of the 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment, officials said. The cause of the crash was under investigation, the Army said.
“This remains an aggressive and ongoing situation,” the release states.
The crash caused a small wildfire that had grown to one acre (0.4 hectares) by Thursday morning, according to the Washington Department of Natural Resources.
It is a “current search mission” that includes “the most professional and skilled person who currently deals with the situation,” Army spokesman Ruth Castro told The Associated Press in an email. They were in full cooperation with law enforcement, she said. No details have been announced about the helicopter.
The base is approximately 10 miles (16 kilometers) south of Tacoma, under the jurisdiction of the US Army Joint Base Headquarters.
The Olympia-based Thurston County Sheriff’s Office was posted online late Wednesday, with deputies dispatched to report a possible helicopter crash in the Summit Lake area west of Olympia.
“We have been advised that the military has lost contact with helicopters in the area,” the department said. It said it was working with the base and no further details were available.
Thurston County Sheriff Derek Sanders said on Facebook that deputies found the crash site, but “but we couldn’t continue our rescue efforts as the scene was on fire.”
The sheriff said King County Guardian 1 helicopter and special operations rescue team responded to the crash scene.
According to Thomas Kyle-Milward of DNR Wildfire Communications Manager, state natural resources staff worked with several agencies, including military and local fire prevention districts, to fight the fires launched by crashes.
